OAKLAND -- Fire crews were searching late into the night Tuesday for a man who is believed to have fallen nearly 100 feet into a water-filled rock quarry behind the Rockridge Shopping Center.

Oakland fire crews responded about 7 p.m. to reports that the man may have slipped and fallen into the quarry behind his home on the 4400 block of Montgomery Street while searching for his cat, said Battalion Chief Emon Usher of the Oakland Fire Department.

Usher said the man's roommate came looking for him and found the man's flashlight, but the man was nowhere to be found. The man was searching for his cat about 10 feet from the wall that borders his home, also near the cliff's edge.

The quarry is about 80 feet deep at its deepest point, Usher said.

When rescue crews arrived, "the water was still, and nothing was moving," Usher said.

But the calm waters would not deter crews -- and even a CHP helicopter and the Alameda County Sheriff's Office dive team -- from looking for the man.

"We will be out here until we find him," Usher added.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter temporarily illuminated the hillside to help look for clues as to where to find the missing man, who Usher said is anywhere from 40 years old to 60 years old.

One area illuminated by the helicopter had crews searching near the base of the quarry's cliff by the homes, but the spot initially did not reveal anything.

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The cat was found during a search on the hillside about an hour after the man was reported missing, Usher said.

The dive team was en route to scan the quarry, and crews were also searching the water using an inflatable boat about 10 p.m.